Firing mechanism for firearms and the like



c; L. LOVERCHECK 2,957,391

FIRING MECHANISM FOR FIREARMS AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ocnzs, 19 0 Filed April 18, 1955 Get.- 25, 1960 c, LQVERCHECK 2,957,391

FIRING MECHANISM FOR FIREARMS AND THE LIKE Filed April 18, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet, 2

3nnentor United Sates Patent O 2,957,391 FIRlNG MECHANISM FOR FIREARMS THE LIKE Charles L. Lover-check, 632 W. 7th St., Erie, Pa. Filed Apr. 18, 1955, Ser. No. 501,944

6 Claims. or. 89-48 This invention relates to firearms and ammunition therefor and more particularly to firearms utilizingan electrical current for firing ammunition therein.

The most common type of firearms now in use utilizes a mechanically actuated device for striking a primer to detonate a charge of explosive in the ammunition. These prior devices must be manually cocked after each charge a is fired and this, in some guns, requires considerable energy on the part of the operator. Generally, there is a fairly heavy firing mechanism which falls with an impact on the cartridge and the impact is inclined to disturb the position of the gun on the target. Electrically primed ammunition has been made according to previous designs but the shells for "use in this type of ammunition were usually made up of several parts and had fairly complicated electrical contacts from the gun to the ammunition.

The present disclosure solves the above problems by providing an electrically actuated firing device for a gun wherein the electrical system will be contained in a compact unit which is a part of the gun and which may, in some instances, be interchanged with corresponding parts of mechanically actuated firearms. To eliminate some of the expenses in manufacturing electrically actuated ammunition, it is proposed to make the shell cases of an integral plastic body and to provide a simple inexpensive means of making electrical contact between the shell cases and the ammunition.

Provided also is a simple inexpensive safety device which prevents the gun from being inadvertently fired.

More specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide an electrically actuated device for firearms which is simple in construction, economical to manufacture, and simple and efiicient to use.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved design of ammunition for firearms. I

Another object of the invention is to provide an electrically actuated firing mechanism for firearms which will be interchangeable with the existing mechanically actuated firearms.

A further object of the invention is to provide anim proved electrical operating mechanism for firearms.-

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists of the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that, changes ice Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of a shell similar to that shown in Fig. 3',

Fig. 6 is an end view of the shell drawn in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view of a firing mechanism constituting another embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal cross section view taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 12 of still another embodiment of a firing mechanism;

Fig- 9 is a cross sectional view taken on line 99 of Fig. 11 of another embodiment of a firing mechanism;

Fig. 10 is a detailed view of part of the firing-mechanism rotated ninety degrees from the position in which it is shown in Fig. 8; I

Fig. 11 is an end view of the part of the tube of the firing mechanism shown in Fig. 9;

Fig. 12 is an end view of a bolt shown in Fig. 8;

Fig. 13 is an enlarged view of a contact member taken on line 13-13 of Fig. 8; and

Fig. 14 is an enlarged view of another contact member taken on line 1414 of Fig. 8.

Now with more specific reference to the drawings, in Fig. 1, a bolt 1 is shown for use with a bolt actiom gun. The bolt 1 has a bore 2 therethrou-gh and has the end adjacent a shell 3 plugged with a plastic plug 4. The bore 2 could be made in the form of a blind hole and, instead of the plastic plug 4, a solid body integral with the bolt 1 could be provided with insulated holes therein to receive the ends of wires 5 and 6. Inside the bolt 1 is provided an induction coil 7 which has a core 8, with iron pole pieces 9 which are in engagement with the magnetic shell 3 of the bolt 1. The core 8 could be made of separate rods, laminations, or of any other desired practical construction. A secondary winding 11 having many turns of fine wire is wrapped around insulation 12 between the primary winding 13.

The primary winding 13 having relatively few turns is wrapped around the secondary winding 11 and has one end 14 thereof connected through a conductor 15 to a positive end 16 of a battery 17 and has the other end 18 thereof grounded to the bolt 1 at 19. The secondary winding 11 has the wires 5 connected to a contact ring 20 at one end thereof and the end of wires 6 connected may be made in the form, size, proportions, and minor Fig. 2 of a bolt for a bolt action gun showing the various parts of the firing mechanism therein;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the bolt show-n in'Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of a plastic shell for use with the bolt shown in Fig. 1; i Fig. 4 is an end view of the shell shown in Fig. 3;

to a contact pin 21. A negative end 23 of the battery 17 is connected through a spring 24 to an insulating support 25 which is anchored to the inside of the base. 1

The spring 24 is connected through a wire 27 to a contact member 28 which has a contact 29 thereon and forms electrical contact with contact 30 on contact support 31. The contact support 31 is connected to a contact support 32 and the contact supports 31 and 32' are supported by means of rivets 33 on an insulated support 34. Another contact 35 is supported on the insulated support 34 and the capacitor 36 has its ends 37a and 38, respectively, connected across the contacts 31 and 35. The contact 35 is connected through a wire 37 to the outside of bolt 1. A contact actuating member 40 is slidably supported in a hole 41 in the bolt 1 and has a washer 43 to keep it in place in the hole 41 and a second washer 44 is engaged by a spring 45. p

A trigger mechanism comprising a bell crank 47 which is pivoted to the gun frame at 48 has a trigger 49 attached thereto which is pivoted to the bell crank 47 at 50 and pivoted to the gun frame at 51. A bell crank or actuating member 52 is urged upward by the usual sear spring member 45 to hold the contacts 35 and 3-2 closed when in an unactuated position.

The plug 4 has a counterbore 55 to receive the flange of a shell 56 and extractor hooks 57 are adapted to overlie the flange of the shell 56 in the conventional manner toextract it. The contact pin 21 is urged into engagement with a firing contact 58 of the shell 56 by means of spring 59 and the contact 20 is urged into engagement with contact 59a by means of a spring 60.

two contacts 58 and 59a inside the shell 56 than out so that the spark will jump between the points 70 and 71 rather than the ends outside the shell 56.

Figs. and 6 show another'embodiment of the inventhrough which a central member 158 having a head 159 thereon extends and a pin 160 is provided toward the outer periphery of the shell 156.

the head 159 and the pin 160 to insure that the spark will jump inside the shell 156 and not out.

The bolt disclosed can be varied in shape depending upon the particular gun in which it is to be used. Substantially the same structure could be used in the breech block of automatic or semi-automatic guns. In operation,

Therefore, the induced secondary is not sutficient to cause a spark to jump be- If the operator then desires to postpone firing the gun, he actuates a cam which is holding the contacts 32 and 35 closed, current will the positive terminal 16 of battery 17, the spring 24, the

The bolt 1 Another embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 7 discloses a breech block 101 adapted to be disposed in a firearm. The figure shown can be adapted to any style firearm having a breech which engages a cartridge; however, a breech block such as that shown in Fig. 1 is disclosed. The breech block 101 illustrated is adapted to battery cell 111 is held in place by means of a spring 112. A terminal 113 is adapted to engage the contact 58 of the cartridge 56 shown in Fig. 3 and ring 114 is adapted to make contact with the contact member 59a shown in around the magnet 204 and has one end thereof grounded to the body member 202. The other end 210 of the coil 206 connects to a terminal 211 adapted to engage the center contact 58 of the cartridge 56. Therefore, the body tached thereto which, along with the slug 215, makes sliding contact with holes 218 and 219 and armature 216 engages the hole 219 of the magnet 204.

The guide member 217 has end 221 of a spring 222 attached thereto and the other end 223 of the spring A handle 225 is A safety lock 229 extends through a hole 230 in the handle 225 and is attached at 231 to the guide member 217.

her 217 and extends downward and terminates in a point 233 which is adapted to engage a trigger mechanism 234 on a firearm.

ment with trigger member 231a, spring 222 pulls plug 216 away from magnet 204, Interrupting the magnetic such as that shown in Fig. 3 into the chamber of his gun and force the breech block into engagement with the cartridge. Then he will rotate the handle 255 on the mount ing member 201. This will cause the cam 235 to force the pin 233 away from the handle 225 which will carry the guide member 217 and the armature 216 forward into engagement with the magnet 204. The point 233 will slide forward over the trigger 234 and will be held by the trigger 234 until it is desired to fire the gun. When the operator pulls the trigger to move the member 234 downward, the point 233 will slide above it and spring 222 will snap the guide member 217 to the dotted line position 270. This will quickly interrupt the flow of magnetic flux across the gap 219, thereby inducing a current in the coil 206 which will flow through the contact member or terminal 211 across the gap between contacts 59a and 58 of the cartridge 56, thereby causing a spark to jump across the gap and igniting the charge of powder or combustible material in the cartridge 56. During its movement from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 8 to the dotted line position 270, the pin 233 will slide along slot 271 and will, therefore, not be interrupted in its rapid movement across the gap.

The operation of the breech block and firing mechanism therein depends for its operation on the fact that when a magnetic circuit is suddenly interrupted, the lines of force thereon will collapse and if a coil of wire is disposed in the collapsing field and the turns of the wire cut thereby, a voltage will be induced in the coil proportional to the number of turns of wire on the coil and also to the strength of the magnetic field. For a magnet in this application, one of the high strength permanent magnets which are at present sold under the trademark Alnico is preferably used.

The embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 9 shows a bolt 301 made in the form of a bolt for a bolt action gun; however, it could be made of a breech block for use in a suitable gun. The bolt 301 is made of magnetic material, is hollow and has a closed end 302 inwhich a non-magnetic member 303 is disposed. Magnet 304 made up of a plurality of magnetic elements 305, 306, 307, and 308 having like poles disposed adjacent each other is arranged concentrically in the bolt 301. The magnet 304 has bearing members 309 and 310 attached at either end thereof. The bearing member 309 slides in a hole 311 in non-magnetic member 303 and the bearing member 310 slides in a hole 312 in spacer member 313. Sear member 314 is attached to the bearing member 310 at 315 and a spring 316 is attached thereto at 317. A tubular member 318 is formed similar to the member 2 27 and has a similar slot which engages the sear member 314 to stop the magnet 304 when a handle 325 is rotated. A spring 326 is attached to the sear 314 at 327 and to the handle 325 at 328. A coil 329 is made up of a plurality of coils 330, 331, 332, 333, and 334 of turns which are wound in opposite directions to each other. The coil 331 has the end thereof connected at 340 to the contact member 211 and downward tothe sliding member 310 at the other end thereof.

During operation, when a shell is inserted in the gun and the contact members are in engagement with the corresponding contact members on the end 302, the coil is connected to the cartridge. When member 342 is actuated when the trigger is pulled, the sear 314 is released. The spring 316 snaps the magnet 304 toward the handle 325, causing the lines of magnetic force between the magnet 304 and the outside shell to cut across the windings, thereby inducing a voltage in the coil 329. By locating like poles adjacent each other, the fields of the magnet 304 will be out through the winding coils and through the iron member back to the other side of the end of each of the magnets. By locating the like poles adjacent each other, the lines of force will be more directly straight outward through the windings. If unlike poles of the magnets were disposed adjacent each other, the entire magnetic assembly would act as one magnet and, therefore, less coils would cut the lines of force.

, The foregoing specification sets forth the invention in its preferred practical forms but the structure shown is capable of modification within a range of equivalents Without departing from the invention which is to be understood is broadly novel as is commensurate with the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A bolt for a bolt action firearm comprising a hollow bolt member closed at one end, means in said hollow member to induce a magnetic field, a coil of wire disposed in said hollow member adjacent said field inducing means, means to electrically connect said coil to a firing mechanism including means adapted to be electrically connected to a contact member on a cartridge, and means to interrupt said magnetic field whereby a voltage is induced in said coil connected to said firing mechanism, said member having one end thereof adapted to engage said cartridge.

2. The bolt block recited in claim 1 wherein said means to interrupt said magnetic field comprises a movable armature movable out of said magnetic field whereby said magnetic field is interrupted.

3. A firing mechanism for a bolt action firearm having a bolt, said bolt comprising a core made of magnetic material in said bolt, a primary coil in said bolt, a source of electrical power for said primary coil in said bolt, a secondary coil in said bolt, means to connect said secondary coil to a cartridge to be fired, and means to interrupt the flow of current in said primary coil whereby a. voltage is induced in said secondary coil.

4. A firing mechanism for a bolt action firearm comprising a hollow bolt member for said firearm, one end of said hollow bolt member having a cartridge engaging portion thereon, an electrical circuit in said hollow bolt member, said electrical circuit connected to electrode engaging members in said cartridge engaging portion, and means to selectively open and close said electrical circuit whereby an electrical spark results between said electrodes in said cartridge.

5. The firearm recited in claim 4 wherein said source of electrical energy comprises a battery disposed in said hollow member.

6. The firearm recited in claim 5 wherein said electrical source further comprises a switch in series with said battery, said switch actuatable to interrupt the flow of current through said coil.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 319,628 Russell June 9, 1885 323,974 Thompson Aug. 11, 1885 411,831 Nordenfelt Oct. 1, 1889 815,490 Thomas Mar. 20, 1906 1,335,500 Hasting Mar. 30, 1920 1,468,822 Ludorf Sept. 25, 1923 2,466,929 Catlin Apr. 12, 1949 2,479,590 Pollock Aug. 23, 1949 2,833,968 Karlson May 6, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 519,341 Great Britain Mar. 21, 1940 

